US2194650A - Door operating mechanism - Google Patents

Description

March 26, 1940. w FOSTER- v 2,194,650

DOOR OPERATING MECHANI SM Filed June 6, 1938 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 0 J a. x k

March 26,1940. 55 2,194,650

noon OPERATING MECHANISM Filed June 6, 1938 S Sheets-Sheet 5 Roy Wfosfez interior of the garage or other building equipped Patented Mar. 26 1940 l UNITED STATES} ATENT 'OFFECE noon OPERATING MECHANISM Roy W. Foster, Red Bank, Tenn.

Application June 6, 1938, serial No. 212,103

3 Claims. (Cl. 268-63) This invention relates to improvements in mechanisms for openingand closing garage and like doors.

More particularly, the present invention relates to an improvement in that type of door operating mechanism embodying a reciprocating carriage connected by links with'the doors to be operated, and operatively connected with an endless sprocket chain drivenby an electrical uni-directional motor.

The primary object of the present invention is to provide a door operating mechanism of the above'typewhich is extremely simple and durable in construction, efiicient in operation; and not likely to readily get out of working order.

The present invention also contemplates the provisionof an electric lamp for illuminating the with the doors to be operated, the arrangement being such as to automatically turn the light on when the doors are opened and to automatically turn the light off when the doors are closed. In addition, it is contemplated to place the door operating mechanism under control of a treadleoperated switch located some distance from and in front of the doors to be operated and adapted to be either manually actuated or depressed by a passing automobile for placing the mechanism into operation, so as to cause closing of the doors upon departure of the automobile or person or opening of the doors upon approach of the person or automobile toward the garage.

The present invention consists in the novel form, combination and arrangement of parts hereinafter more fully described, shown in the accompanying drawings and claimed.

In the drawings:

Figure 1 is a fragmentary vertical sectional view of a garage having doors equipped with an operating mechanism constructed in j accordance with the present invention, said mechanism being in 7 side elevation.

Figure 2 is a top plan view of the construction shown in Figure Lpartlybroken away.

Figure 3 is an enlarged transversesectionon line 33 of Figure 1. V

Figure 4 is a plan view of the treadle-operated switch preferably employed for controlling the mechanism of Figure 1.

Figure 5 is a longitudinal vertical section on it line 5-5 of Figure4. v

Figure 6 is an enIarged transverse section on line 6--6 of Figure 5.

Figure! is a view somewhat similar to Figure l sprocket wheel 23. ried by the supporting frame 8 near its inner illustrating a modified form of the mechanism. It

Figure 8 is an enlarged transverse verticalsection on line 8-8 of Figure 7; and I Figure 9 is a diagram of the wiring employed in complete installation of the door operating mechanism of Figures 1 and 7. v p

Referring in detail to the drawings, 5 indicates the walls of a garage or other building, 6 indicates a pair of doors for an opening in one of the walls 5 hinged as at 1 for horizontal swinging movement. r I

The present door operating mechanism includes an open rectangular frame 8 horizontally arranged in an elevated position within the garage or like building, one end of said frame being rigidly attached at 9 to a wall 5 above the doors 6, and the other or inner end of frame 8 being suspended from an overhead support ID by means of suitable hangers or brackets II. The frame 8 includes cross bars I2 that project laterally be yond one side of the frame '8 and have the ends. of a vertically arranged horizontally elongated guide frame I3 bolted thereto as at I4. The] guide frame I3 affords upper and lower guide rails I 5 and I6, and movable in this guide frame upon the rails I5 and I6 is areciprocating carriage I]. Rigid with and projecting laterally and downwardly from opposite sides of the lower'portion of carriage I! are arms I 8, and pivotally connected at one end to each arm 18 is a link IS]; The other ends of links I9 are pivotally connected at 20 to the-respective ones of the doors 6 at the top of the latter and near their adjacent free edges. It will be noted that the links I9 extend in forwardly diverging relation so that when the carriage I7 is moved forwardly, the doors 6 will be swung to open position, and when the carriage I1 is moved rearwardly, said doors will be swung to closed position. I

Journaled in bearings 2| transversely of and upon the supporting frame 8 is a shaft 22 that projects at one end within the guide frame I3 adjacent the forward end of the latter, and upon this projecting end of shaft 22 is secured a A platform 24 is rigidly carend, and secured upon this platform is a small uni-directional electric motor 25. At this end of frame 8, the latter carries a bearing 26 in which is journaled a transverse shaft 21 having an end projecting within the inner end" portion of guide frame I3 and carrying a sprocket wheel28. An endless sprocket chain 29 passes around the sprocket wheels 23 and 28, and the armature shaft door operating of motor 25 is operatively connected with transverse shaft 21 by means of a worm gearing indicated at 30. The carriage H is provided with an opening 3! into which projects a lug 32 carried by and movable with the sprocket chain 29, the arrangement being such that when the sprocket chain 29 is driven in one direction, the lug 32 will cause reciprocation of the carriage H.

In the embodiment of Figures 1 to 3 inclusive, the opening 3i is relatively large and of a form to provide an internal shoulder 33 at the upper inner portion of the carriage and an internal shoulder 34 at the lower forward portion of the carriage. Thus, the carriage has moved to its extreme inward limit of movement'in Figure 1 and upon further travel of chain 29 in the direction of the arrow indicated at a, the lug 32 will pass from the shoulder 33 and ultimately engage shoulder 34 so as to cause forward movement of carriage 17. Such forward movement of carriage I! will of course cause opening of'doors 6 through the medium of links 59. When the carriage I! has reached its extreme forward limit of movement, the lug 32 will pass around the sprocket 23 from the shoulder 34 and then into engagement with shoulder 33, thereby returning breaking the circuit of the motor the carriage ll to its limit of movement as shown in Figure 1. This inward movement of carriage I! in the guide frame l3 will of course cause closing of doors 6 through the medium of the links H. Also, in this embodiment or form of the invention, the guide rails l5 and I6 are preferably of channel form with their flanges facing toward each other, and the carriage I! is provided at the top and bottom with rollers 35 engaged in the guide ways formed by the guide rails l5 and In the embodiment of Figures 7 and 8, however, the carriage is in the form of a plate provided at the top and bottom with guide sleeves 35a, and the guide frame has its upper and lower guide rails in the form of rods lfia and !6a slidably embraced by the sleeves 35a. Also, the carriage in this instance has a transverse elongated slot 3 la of uniform width from end to end, and the lateral lug 32a of sprocket chain 29 slidably engages in this slot 3 la. Otherwise, the construction of both embodiments of the invention is substantially'the same, and remaining parts of both embodiments which are similar are indicated by like reference characters.

Carried by each end of the guide frame 13 in the path of movement of carriage IT is a normally closed switch 36 operable for automatically 25 when the carriage ll reaches either limit of its movement. While these switches may be of any well known or preferred type or construction, they have been shown in Figure 1 as including pivoted contacts 37 engageable by the carriage H for being moved to circuit-opening position. In the embodiment of Fl 7, the switches are merely shown as of a to ordinary push button switches. ng the present mechanism, a switch or initially closing the circuit of er manually or by passage of an reover. For this purpose, I preeadle switch of the construction shownfirmgjese to 6 inclusive. This switch includes telescopic channels 256 and 39 arranged within a depression or recess 46 provided in the driveway M leading to the garage equipped with the doors 6, the channels being provided with opposed electrical contacts 32 and 43 normally separated by elevation of the upper treadle or driveway M, such as cap plates'45 suitably anchored and embedded in the driveway so as to overlie the ends of channel 39 as shown in Figures 4 and 5. In wiring the mechanism, a feed wire 46 extending from a suitable source of current is connected to one contact 41 of switch 36 at the inner end of guide frame l3, as shown in Figure 9. Another fixed contact 38 of this switch 36 is connected by wire :39 to a corresponding contact 4801 ofthe switch 36 at the other or forward end of guide frame l3. The remaining fixed contact 11a of the switch 36 at the forward end of guide frame I3 is connected by wire 50 with the feed terminal iii of motor 25, the return wire 52 being connected to the remaining terminal of motor 25. It will be understood that the contacts 4'! and d8 of the rear or inner switch 36 are normally bridged by the movable contact 3'! of the latter, and likewise with respect to the contacts Ma and 56a of the switch 36 at the outer or forward end of the frame i3. Also, the contacts 12 carried by the lower channel 8 of the treadle switch shown in Figures 4 to E inclusive are connected by wire 53 with the feed side of motor 25 between the latter and the forward switch 36, and contacts 43 of the upper channel or treadle 39 are connected by wire with the feed wire '36 ahead of the rear switch 36. Thus, when the treadle or upper channel. 36 is depressed so as to cause engagement of contacts 43 with contacts t2, current will be supplied to motor 25 by way of wires 54, 53 and 56. Assuming that the carriage I! is at its inner limit of movement as shown in Figures 1 and 9, the rear switch 36 will be open until said carriage moves forwardly a sufficient distance to allow contact 31 to bridge contacts 47 and 66. When this occurs, the motor 25 continues to operate even though the treadle or channel 39 is released to disengage contacts i3 from contacts 42, the circuit being traced from feed wire .6 to wire 46, wire 56, motor 25 and return wire 52. Thus, the carriage will continue moving forwardly until the doors are opened and the carriage 17 moves contact 3'! of the forward switch 36 to break the motor circuit. The doors will then thus remain in open position until the treadle 36 is depressed again to start the motor 25. As soon as the carriage permits the movable contact 3'! of the forward switch 36 to bridge the contacts 4'! and 680,, the motor circuit will be completed even though the treadle 39 is released, and the carriage ll will continue rearward movement until the doors are closed and the carriage ll moves contact 3? of the rear switch 36 to circuit-opening position. When the latter occurs, the motor is again thrown out of operation and the doors remain closed. It has been previously explained how the lug 32 operatively engages the carriage i! for reciprocating the same in this manner when the sprocket chain 29. is driven by the motor 2:"; through the gearing til. As the worm gearing 36 is of a self-locking type, the doors may not be'forced open or closed by application of power thereto.

Carried by the motor platform 24 is a lamp socket 55 carrying a lamp 56 and having one terminal connected to the wire 69, the other terminal of socket 56 being connected to the return wire 52 as shown clearly in Figure 9. It will thus be seen that when the carriage ll is moved forwardly to open the doors, the lamp 56 will be lighted and will remain lighted as long as the doors are open. On the contrary, when the carriage l'l moves inwardly to close the doors, the circuit of lamp 5t will be opened and the lamp will be turned out as soon as thecontact 31 of the rear switch at is moved to circuit-opening -pos1- tion by carriage ll. Thus, the lamp 56 will remain unlighted when the doors are closed and the treadle 39 is released.

From the above description, it will be seen that the motor circuit is controlled by a switch operated manually or by the automobile, the carriage being automatically moved by the motor to open or close the doors, and the motor circuit is automatically broken whenever the doors are in full I closed or openposition,

What I claim as new is: l. A device for opening and closing a door,

comprising in combination with a hinged door,

a horizontal open rectangular supporting frame, a vertical open rectangular guide frame fixed to said supporting frame along one side of the lat-' ter and including upper and lower guide rails, a

carriage reciprocable alongsaid guide frame and verse shafts, an endless sprocket chain on said sprocket wheels, means operatively connecting one of said transverse shafts with said motor, said carriage having an opening therethrough, a lug attached to said sprocket chain and projecting laterallyinto the opening of the carriage for reciprocating the latter when the sprocket chain is I driven in one direction, a lateral arm rigid with and depending from the bottom of said carriage,

a link pivotally connected'at one end to said arm and at its other end to the hinged door, and means for automatically breaking the motor circuit when the carriage approaches either end of the guide frame. v 2. A device for opening and closinga door,

comprising in combination with a hinged door, an open rectangular supporting frame mounted in a horizontal position and including cross bars projecting laterally beyond one side 'of said supporting frame, a vertical open rectangular guide frame arranged along one side of said supporting frame andrigidly mounted upon the projecting portions of said cross bars, transverse shafts journaled upon said supporting frame and proa link pivotally connected at one end to said arm, and at its other end to the hinged door, means for automatically breaking the circuit of said motor when the carriage approaches its limit of movement in either direction, said guide frame including upper and lower guide bars, and said carriage comprising a plate provided with a V91: tical elongated slot and having top and bottom guide sleeves slidably embracing-said guide rods, the operative connection between the sprocket chain and said carriage including a lateral lug attached to said sprocket chain and projecting into said elongated opening of the carriage 3. A device for opening and closing a door,

comprising in combination with a hinged door, an

open rectangular supporting frame mounted in a, horizontal position and including cross bars projecting laterally beyond one side of said sup porting frame, a vertical open-rectangular guide frame arranged along one side of said supporting frame and rigidly mounted upon the projecting portions of said cross bars, transverse shafts.

journaled upon said supporting frame and pro jecting into the guide frame, sprocketwheelson said transverse shafts, an endless sprocket chain on said sprocket wheels, a non-reversible motor mounted upon said supporting frame and operatively connected to one of said transverse shafts, a vertical carriage movable along said guide frame and operatively connected with the sprocket chain to'travel therewith, a lateral arm depending from the lower portion of said carriage,

a link pivotally connected at one end to said arm and at its other end to the hinged door, means for automatically breaking the circuit of said motor when the carriage approaches its limit of movement in either direction, said guide frame including upper and lower guide channels, wheels on said carriage running in said guide channels,

said carriage having an opening therethrough providingshoulders internally of the carriage at the rear upper and forward lower portions thereof, and a lateral lug carried. by the sprocket chain alternately engageable with said shoulders for causing movement of the carriage in opposite directions.

ROY W. FOSTER.

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